Despite what most insurance companies show you upfront on their websites, the truth is, the actual costs of commercial truck insurance rates are often hidden from view.
There’s a million variables that affect interest rates for commercial trucks and equipment. Luckily, there’s also a ton of things you can do right now to lower interest rates ASAP!
7 Fastest Ways to Lower Commercial Truck Insurance Rates
- Use One Insurance Company for Your Entire Fleet. We see a lot of transportation and construction business owners use multiple different companies to insure individual vehicles. This typically results in larger insurance costs and higher rates. Instead, choose just one insurance company to cover all the vehicles in your fleet. Most companies offer discounts and lower interest rates as you add more vehicles to their insurance plan. This also makes it easier to keep track of payment schedules, which is crucial to keeping your rates low.
- Pay Monthly for Annual Insurance Plans. Most insurance companies offer the option of choosing between paying smaller monthly installments with higher insurance rates, and a large annual payment plan with significantly reduced interest rates. Business owners typically choose monthly installment plans so as not to disrupt cash flow. However, with a business term loan that offers monthly repayment options, you can use your loan to pay off the large annual installment, and then pay the loan off with lower-cost monthly payments!
- Keep Driving Records Clean. This may seem obvious, but too-many business owners are unaware just how much the driving records of their employees impact their insurance costs – both on and off the clock. Something as simple as a blowing a red light or a mild speeding ticket can bump up your company’s insurance rates dramatically. The best practices we’ve seen that encourages safe driving are reward systems for those that go X months/years without a ticket or accident, and a punishment system for those responsible for lazy driving incidents.
- Higher Value Equipment=Lower Commercial Interest Rates. The more current the vehicle model, and the more features it has, the lower your rates will be. The older and more run down your equipment is, the more risk is assumed by your insurance company. While adding new vehicles to your fleet can be expensive, using heavy equipment financing offers a lower-cost payment plan that doesn’t disrupt cash flow by saving you the stress of paying for commercial vehicles upfront.
- Pay On Time – At All Costs! Some payments are harder to make than others. Depending on the season, fluctuating demand, and a billion other factors, cash flow might not be in your favor every time pay day comes around. Nothing gets an insurance company more fired up to raise your rates than not paying on time, so ensure you have a backup plan to pay off each payment on schedule. Whether it be temporarily cutting costs from other business operations, or applying for a low-rate short-term financing option so you don’t interrupt cash flow, paying your insurance on time is vital to keeping commercial costs and rates low.
- Split Up Your Routes. The longer the distance your drivers go, the more hours they spend driving, the higher their probability of accidents, the faster your vehicles will wear down and need maintenance, and the more risk insurance companies take on. All of this results in higher rates, and worse terms. Try to reduce the hours your drivers are required to complete by splitting up routes otherwise taken on by individual drivers. This may mean taking on more drivers, or asking drivers to work additional days than they would otherwise. However, the amount you save on lower rates as a result will more than pay off any additional labor costs long-term.
- Get Rid of Tax Liens and Judgments BEFORE Talking with Insurance Companies. Asking for lower rates with judgments and/or tax liens over your head is just asking for trouble and frustration. Judgments especially are more common among businesses that use commercial vehicles, due to the higher risk of accidents and traffic tickets. The good news is, there’s a fast and simple ways to get rid of them, and ensure you get the lowest possible insurance rates for your commercial trucks and vehicles. Get yourself a small business loan or business line of credit to pay off your tax lien. As for judgments – there are financing and services options to get rid of them faster and easier than you’d ever expect.
Need Help Lowering Interest Rates, or Paying Insurance Costs?
If you do, give us a call at (877) 482-3008 for a free consultation from a Business Financing Advisor, and ask how they can help you get the funds or services you need in as little as 24 hours.
Or, fill out our 1-minute online application to get the ball rolling immediately!